Sewage plant plan spews smell concerns

The green thumbs that run the 10-acre Savannah Botanical Gardens on Eisenhower Drive are worried visitors will soon be smelling sewage instead of roses.

But city staffers assure them the plan for a sewage treatment plant at the Bacon Park Golf Course behind the gardens is nothing to turn their nose up at.

The treatment plant is being planned as the city faces stricter state limits on the amount of groundwater it can withdraw, as well as limits on the treated wastewater it can discharge into the Savannah River. Once treated, the wastewater would be stored in a holding pond and used to irrigate the golf course and eventually other athletic fields in the area.

The process is the same one used to irrigate the Savannah Golf Club on East President Street, as well as the Westin Savannah Harbor Golf Resort and Spa course on Hutchinson Island, and is expected to reduce city groundwater withdraw by about one million gallons a day.

Word of the plan recently reached chairwoman Betty Ward and other members of the garden center's board, spurring questions about how the facility will impact the area.

The nonprofit's biggest concern comes down to making sure their flowers won't wilt.

About 70 percent of the funding required to maintain and operate the botanical gardens comes from weddings, and any nasty odors from the treatment plant could drive that business away, Ward said.

"It could totally ruin the garden," she said.

The project also spurred former City Alderman Larry Stuber, who lives in the area, to question city staff about possible odors, landscaping buffers and the potential for accidental spills into the Casey Canal leading to the Vernon River, according to an email he sent in late February to Alderman Mary Ellen Sprague, who represents Bacon Park residents.

A lift station at the golf course already pumps sewage to the city's President Street plant, which discharges treated wastewater into the Savannah River, and there have been spills and odor problems in the past, although golfers were the only ones who got wind of the stench as far as he knew, Stuber said.

"I don't object to them building a treatment plant, but they have to be careful," he said.

In certain weather conditions, the pump station can generate an odor, but the treatment plant is not expected to add to the smell, said John Sawyer, public works and water resources bureau chief.

That is because the "sludge," which generates the most smell, will be separated and pumped in a closed pipe system to the President Street plant, while the treated water will be pumped to the storage pond, Sawyer said.

If the plant does emit more odor than expected, Sawyer said, the city will make the necessary upgrades. The system also minimizes the potential for spills, he said, because the sewage can be pumped to President Street if the Bacon Park plant needs to be shut down.

Auto dealer O.C. WELCH, whose management company was recently awarded the contract to run the Bacon Park Golf Course, could not be reached for comment. Sawyer said Welch's management group had no concerns about the treatment plant project.

The city is expected to open bids from potential contractors next week. The issue will likely be a topic during a meeting organized by Sprague for Bacon Park residents Monday night, which is open to the general public.